Thankful for the workers.
Thankful for the workers.
A moment of gratitude for the people who really run things, and take risks to protect themselves, their coworkers, families, and communities near and far.
Hello, friends.
Giving thanks should be a year-round practice. I wanted to express my own gratitude to the workers whose stories we’ve covered this past year at Workday Magazine and with our publishing partners, and to my coworkers at the Labor Education Service whose work and passion for talking to working people and challenging injustice inspires me every single day. It’s been a whole year since we relaunched! Time flies.
Thank you to our readers from me and the team at Workday Magazine and LES, for the conversation, friendship, and solidarity through all kinds of struggle. I know holidays can be a stressful time, on top of stressful news.
Since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, the Israeli military’s violence against Palestinian civilians has made life even more unbearable for many. Alongside our community members, we are mourning the killing of Israeli and Palestinian civilians, and overwhelming targeting of civilian infrastructure—including hospitals and homes—in Gaza, antisemitic and Islamophobic speech and actions, and retaliation against those who are speaking out in advocacy, including the journalists in Gaza whose work has put them and their families at incredible risk. Here are some resources for building solidarity with workers in Palestine.
You can also read and share Sarah’s recent coverage of the labor movement’s solidarity with Palestinian civilians, trade unions, and workers, in collaboration with our publishing partners.
In This Union Is Famous for Opposing South African Apartheid. Now It’s Standing With Gaza, Larry Wright, a retired dockworker, speaks on a resolution passed in support of Gaza and the history of his union’s struggle against worker exploitation under imperialism and colonialism.
More from Sarah and Jeff Schurke at In These Times on The U.S. Labor Voices Opposing Military Aid to Israel. On Friday, the United Auto Workers also announced their endorsement of a cease-fire.
“All we want to do is work in an environment that doesn’t feel actively dangerous.”
Remember the nurses who were “drowning” due to understaffing this summer? They’re still drowning. Nurses at Ascension St. Joseph in Joliet, Ill., went on strike during the holiday week in order to get their employer to raise wages and stop committing unfair labor practices and staffing the hospital dangerously low. Read more in: “We Won’t Let Them Destroy Us”: Nurses at Illinois Hospital Strike Over Thanksgiving Week.
Victory for First Ave workers!
ICYMI, Isa reported on the coalitional organizing that led to the voluntary recognition of the new union at Minneapolis’s legendary music venue: First Avenue Workers’ Victory: Another Win for Union and Worker Center Collaborations.
New report shines light on worker exploitation in Minnesota’s affordable housing industry.
A new report claims Minnesota’s affordable housing developers receive millions in public funds while working with subcontractors with problematic records of worker exploitation. At least $84 million in Minnesota state and municipal funds earmarked for affordable housing projects have gone to contractors with records or accusations of worker exploitation. Read Isa’s review on the report’s findings.
Was objectivity really a historical norm? Not for these pioneering labor journalists and advocates.
In collaboration with Minnesota Women’s Press for the December Changemakers issue, I wrote about a few journalists throughout Minnesota history whose work transgressed gender norms and traditional notions about journalistic objectivity, and what learning about their lives and work has meant to me.
I am so thankful to get to talk to working people all the time, and to work with amazing people who also love doing this. Thank you for reading, for your work and your solidarity.